Tales Be Told
by KaosKitty99
Summary: Matthew is a wandering storyteller, traveling the country to find incomplete stories and rumours to investigate, complete, and then sell at a modest price. So when he hears rumours of a man-eating monster plaguing the forest near a village, he just has to explore it. Will he regret this choice? Or will it uncover something truly marvelous? Warning: 2ps Involved. 2p America x Canada
1. Observations

Soft crunches echoed through a shaded forest, the only sound that broke the weak silence other than gentle melodies that floated from birds. Other animals preferred to remain hidden away at the current time of day, about noon, either in thickets of soft leafy bushes or in their burrows, hiding until later in the day when they could roam on their own. Particularly because of one issue-humans. It was only one human, and a human that wasn't about to harm anything, but they animals did not know that and so they hid.

This human was quite harmless indeed. His name was Matthew. Matthew was dressed in thin cotton and worn leather clothing, pieces he'd made on his own with things he'd caught or crafted on his travels. The leather was from hunts, yes, but he hated his hunts. Only when he was bare or hungry did he hunt, and of course never for sport. He hadn't the arrows to spare for it. He strolled through the wooded area for a reason quite different from hunting. He was looking for stories.

Stories, the spoken and rarely written tales of legends present and past, were of great importance to him. They sold for a good price if incomplete stories were made whole, or pieces were linked together to be revealed to be one large interconnected story, and that was what Matthew made a living off of. It was an odd profession, but one he enjoyed.

He had come to the nearby village because of rumours floating around. Matthew had hardly any fame, but when he caught wind of rumours, he always ended showing up to hear them out for himself. It had only been a couple days before he'd collected all that the villagers knew at the moment.

There was a monster in the woods, supposedly, either killing or kidnapping people in the night, said to be a curse put on the village.

Though Matthew had heard many stories similar to this, he was skeptical, and didn't expect any of it to actually be true. So he was fearless as he went through the forest, fingers fiddling with the strap of his satchel as he walked along through the pitiful trails left by others in the village. He would just look around the forest a bit, decide if the rumours had any ground to them, then go back and fetch his horse to be on his way again.

The hours slowly crawled by as Matthew explored the forest, making note of certain things. Like a crystal clear brook he'd stopped at for a rest and a drink, a cave he'd passed by at one point and tried to avoid, and some strange organizations of stones near the centre of the forest. It was certainly a strange place, but in no way magical or really story-worthy.

After the day had nearly exhausted itself, Matthew decided that perhaps the rumours were just that-rumours. He hadn't seen anything that would hold up the villager's claims. He'd just turned around to head back when he stumbled across the stream again, though this time, there was a large shadowy figure near it. It seemed to be an animal, though from where Matthew was at, he could only see that it had an unnaturally large size. The sight made Matthew's heart quicken and the storyteller quickly ducked down behind a bush, his eyes wide.

In this moment, he had to decide. Was the animal dangerous? Would it attack him? The brief glance Matthew had taken told him it was certainly a predatory animal-It had a long snout, muscular frame, front-facing eyes… It was likely canine, perhaps an unnaturally large wolf? No, this animal was much, much too large to be just any wolf. Maybe this animal… Maybe it was the one the villagers had warned about. This thought made colour drain from Matthew's face, his muscles stiffening and tensing as adrenaline started coursing through him, ready for fight or flight. The latter seemed to be a better choice, but against such a momentous creature, would he be able to outrun it? Slim chance.

A slow breath was taken as Matthew attempted to calm himself down and think rationally. He could probably climb a tree to get away from it, and wait up there until it got bored and wandered away. Then again, with such a size, it'd likely be able to jump up and grab him before he could get too high… No, he must think positive. Positive. Turning around and holding his breath to reduce possible sound, he gently pushed aside some fronds of the bush to peek through, only to feel his stomach drop. The animal was no longer there. Matthew frantically looked from side to side, trying to locate it, but the figure was no where in sight. His heart was pounding in his ears, his breathing quickening with fright, warmth draining from his face and fingers.

Everything froze when he heard a crack of a branch directly behind him.


	2. Meetings

Matthew's blood was ice, he could hardly prod himself to move, he felt like a statue. He swore he could feel hot breath on his neck, though his heartbeat was deafening-so much so that he feared the creature would hear it. After a few deep breaths, Matthew managed to convince himself to turn his head and glance over his shoulder, his tensed body trembling with stress. What he saw behind him made him want to scream, if his body wasn't so locked up.

His fears from before were true. It was indeed a wolf, an unnaturally large one at that. It stared Matthew down with demonic crimson eyes, nostrils flaring as it glared at the traveller, its dark auburn fur bristling. A low growl escaped the creature as it loomed over Matthew, who was frozen in a silent scream for help. He'd hardly expected that this would be the way he'd end, chomped up by some mega wolf.

Suddenly, with a quick movement, a large paw laid itself on Matthew's chest and the male let out a surprised gasp as he felt himself shoved down, the pressure of the ground behind him and the paw over him slowly pushing air from his lungs. He wheezed for another breath, hands gripping at the toes of the animal's humungous paw, his violet eyes stretching wide with fear as he looked up at the wolf over him. It leaned down its head, several times bigger than his own, and sniffed curiously at him now, the hot breath blowing Matthew's sweaty hair from his face, causing a chill to run down his spine. A whimper unbidden by the traveller slipped past his lips and he closed his eyes tightly, waiting for his almost certain death to come.

But it didn't.

Instead, the weight was soon lifted from his chest and before he could even open his eyes, his shirt was being grabbed up by the wolf's teeth, and it turned to carry him off like a pup. Naturally, Matthew wiggled to try and free himself; when he did finally slide out of his shirt, he was simply pushed back to the ground like a plaything and then picked up again by his pants. He had no clue where this creature was taking him. His more negative thoughts screamed that it was taking him back to its den to eat him fresh without interruptions, but he prayed this wasn't the case.

He was even more confused when the wolf simply dropped him into an icy river, causing a flurry of startled bubbles to rise from Matthew at first, making him scramble to get back to the surface. Drowning seemed like an odd method of death for an animal with such big claws and teeth compared to a little human like him. He broke the surface and took a deep breath of air, followed by a cough, and then he worked to scrub the water and sweat from his eyes and to move his hair out of his face. Once he had done so, he gave a startled squeak at what he saw. No longer was there a wolf there, but just one single man. He bore sun-kissed skin, and wore a brown wolf pelt-The front paws hanging over his bare shoulders and the hollowed head resting on his own. He had pale paint lining his cheeks and arms, almost in ritualistic patterns. He only wore pants, also comprised of fur and leather. And a long dagger was tied to his side-the sheath, anyways. The dagger itself was held tightly in one of his hands.

Matthew looked around quickly, at first not putting two and two together; where could the wolf have gone? And so quickly? "Er… Sir… Have you seen a wolf…? It just dropped me here and-" He was cut off abruptly when the dagger was placed at his neck, the chilly stone pressing against his skin.

"Shut up." The other ordered sharply, and it was little comfort to know that this native could at least speak English. However, in such a situation, Matthew didn't dare move. That would be a death wish. He didn't speak either. "What are you doing in my forest?"

"Y-your forest? I don't understand, I was just… Looking around because of a rumour from the village…" Matthew replied in a near whisper. This only caused a grunt from the other male, and he moved slightly closer.

"And what have they said?" He then asked.

"Nothing more than that there's a creature that eats those that wander in the forest…" Matthew whispered in a shaky tone.

The other male's lip curled in a snarl, and he loomed over the other. "Because they defile my forest!" He snapped, making Matthew shrink down a bit. Slowly, the other male sighed, almost seeming to try and compose himself. "So… What were you planning to do when you found the source of the… Rumour? Slay it?"

Matthew's eyes widened at that comment, and he was quick to defend himself. "Of course not! I'm not a hunter, I'm just a storyteller!" He complained. "I wouldn't try and hurt it! I just wanted to… Well, see if the rumours were true and then I'd leave."

This seemed to calm the other and he slowly pulled his dagger away, sliding it into its leather sheath. Moving forwards, his hands quickly wandered Matthew. The traveller felt largely uncomfortable, but assumed the other was looking for a weapon of some sort. He found none, but he did find Matthew's journal in his soaked bag-he'd forgotten about it. It was probably worthless now, dripping with water. The native moved away quickly and flipped through the sopping book, before grunting and tossing it back towards the blonde, who was quick to catch it before it could fall in the water again.

"I suppose you're telling the truth…" The other murmured after a few long, silent moments. Matthew let out a soft breath of relief. "You're free to go. Don't return." The native warned him. "I'll be watching you to make sure you actually leave this place." He hissed.

Matthew shuddered a bit and hoisted himself out of the river, nodding quickly to the other broad male. "Right… Right… I'll leave, don't worry…" He replied slowly, wringing out his clothing before going on a search for his shirt, only to find that the native was holding it out to him. Matthew gazed at it curiously before cautiously taking it from the other with a pale hand. After he'd put it back on, he turned and raced away from the other, who simply stood there and watched him flee.

But Matthew knew he couldn't leave for good. Not when this story was proving to be true.


End file.
